Semiconductor devices are constructed from a silicon or gallium arsenide wafer through a process which comprises a number of deposition, masking, diffusion, etching, and implanting steps. Usually, many individual devices are constructed on the same wafer. When the devices are sawed into individual rectangular units, each takes the form of an integrated circuit (IC) die. In order to interface a die with other circuitry, normally it is mounted on a lead-frame paddle, in the case of single chip construction, or a multichip module substrate which in either case are surrounded by a number of lead fingers within a lead-frame. Hereafter general reference will be made by use of the word “substrate” as meaning either a paddle or a multichip module substrate or their functional equivalents.
The die-mounting substrate of a standard lead-frame is larger than the die itself, and it is surrounded by multiple lead fingers of individual leads. Bonding pads on the die are connected one by one in a wire-bonding operation to the lead-frame's lead finger pads with extremely fine gold or aluminum wire. The lead-frames are connected together for manufacturing purposes into a strip. Each strip generally consists of a linear series of interconnected lead-frames, typically ten in a row, one after another. Then the die and the portion of the lead-frame to which the die is attached, are encapsulated in a plastic or ceramic material to form the chip package, as are all other die/lead-frame assemblies on the lead-frame strip. A trim-and-form operation then separates the resultant interconnected packages and bends the leads of each package into the proper configuration.
In many cases, multichip devices can be fabricated faster and more cheaply than a corresponding single IC which incorporates the same functions. Current multichip module construction typically consists of a printed circuit board substrate to which a series of separate components are directly attached. This technology is advantageous because of the increase in circuit density achieved. With increased density comes improvements in signal propagation speed and overall device weight. While integrated circuit density has and continues to increase at a significant rate, the density of the interconnecting circuitry between a die and its leads, and between two components within a multichip module, has not kept pace. Consequently, interconnection density has become a significant limiting factor in the quest for miniaturization.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,323, issued Apr. 30, 1991, having a common assignee with the present application, discloses a pair of rectangular integrated-circuit dice mounted on opposite sides of the lead-frame. An upper, smaller die is back-bonded to the upper surface of the lead fingers of the lead-frame via a first adhesively coated, insulated film layer. The lower, slightly larger die is face-bonded to the lower surface of the lead extensions within the lower lead-frame die-bonding region via a second, adhesively coated, insulative, film layer. The wire-bonding pads on both the upper die and the lower die are interconnected with the ends of their associated lead extensions by gold or aluminum wire. The lower die needs to be slightly larger for accessibility to the die pads from above allowing gold wire connections to the lead extensions or fingers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,587 shows a semiconductor chip package which uses a chip carrier to support the chips within a cavity. The chip carrier as shown in the figures has a slot that permits connection by wires to bonding pads which, in turn, connect to the card connector by conductors. An encapsulation material is placed only on the top surface of the chip in order to provide heat dissipation from the bottom surface when carriers are stacked.
Japanese Patent No. 56-62351 (A) issued to Sano in 1981 discloses three methods of mounting two chips on a lead-frame and attaching the pair of semiconductor chips or pellets to a common lead-frame consisting of: (method 1) two chips mounted on two paddles; (method 2) one chip mounted over a paddle and one below not attached to the paddle; and (method 3) one chip attached above and one chip attached below a common paddle.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,323,060 and 5,291,061, both having a common assignee with the present application, teach arrangements of multichip stacked devices wherein a first die is attached to the substrate and wire bonded to the lead fingers, followed by a second die and so on. Both patents teach using an adhesive layer between two dice to provide clearance between the dice for the loops of the wire bonds. The wire bonds attaching an underlying die must be completed before another die can be stacked on the stack. This means that the die attachment process must be repeated for each additional layer of the stack. In addition to adding extra process steps, there is a chance of damaging the underlying wires. Additionally, because the clearances between two adjacent dice in the stack are quite tight, small variances in the loop height and adhesive thickness can lead to a compound error which results with the wire loops of the underlying die contacting or interfering with the upper die.